North Carolina Film Critics Association

12 hours ago

Review: Playing With Fire from member Bruce Steele.

Do pre-tweens need to be condescended to for entertainment? The Nickelodeon-produced theatrical film "Playing With Fire" answers that question with a big, Absolutely! I also readily report that the 8-year-olds (give or take a couple of years) in the audience around me laughed heartily and often at the blunt jokes employing poop, farts, geysers of water, mud and other grime, pratfalls, and the so on, none of the gags the least bit creative. But seriously, parents — and filmmakers — you can do better.

In theaters now. #PlayingWithFire ...

North Carolina Film Critics Association

16 hours ago

Review: Pain and Glory from member Matthew Lucas.

Cinema history is littered with filmmakers who turned the camera on themselves - stories of tortured artists, great men burdened great talent. It would be easy to dismiss these films as mere vanity projects, tales of self-aggrandizement by mostly male filmmakers who see themselves as saddled with great genius that no one else could possibly understand. Perhaps the most famous example of this is Fellini's "8 1/2", although Tarkovsky's "Mirror" and even Von Trier's "The House that Jack Built" could arguably comfortably in that category.

In select theaters now. #PainandGlory ...

North Carolina Film Critics Association

20 hours ago

Review: Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound from member Adam Long.

An illuminating documentary that strives to educate in a way that the best documentary films manage to do, "Making Waves" is an insightful look at a subject that begs for this type of film. Namely, the evolution of sound in motion pictures through the last one hundred years, give or take a decade. The film features interview clips with some of the biggest names in modern movie sound, along with some of the greatest directors of the last half-century of cinema, as they discuss the importance of sound and how it has moved forward over the years. It’s both entertaining and informative and recommended.

In select theaters now. #MakingWavesMovie ...

North Carolina Film Critics Association

1 day ago

Review: Doctor Sleep from member Bruce Steele.

"Doctor Sleep" may be based on the recent Stephen King novel, a sequel to his own "The Shining" from 1977, but it’s more precisely a follow-up to the 1980 Stanley Kubrick film, which diverged considerably from King’s original book.

The horror novelist’s dislike aside, the Kubrick is a masterpiece of design, film language and acting. "Doctor Sleep" is not a ground-breaking masterpiece, but it is a fine example of suspense craftsmanship and a remarkably intelligent blend of elements from King and Kubrick. It doesn’t require fond recollection of the movie "The Shining", but it certainly pays off more handsomely for those who do recall the original.

In theaters now. #DoctorSleepMovie ...

North Carolina Film Critics Association

2 days ago

Recommendation: "10 Horror Classics You Can Stream This Halloween" with member Joe George.

When the Twitter feed for Disney+ published a thread listing every title subscribers could find on the new service, some pop culture fans cheered. But even as commenters celebrated the chance to revisit pre-’70s family films like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" or "The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men", others noted the absence of early films in other genres, especially from Disney’s newly acquired 20th Century Fox back-catalog. ...